Pros- Historic University with bright students from around the world. Picturesque town.

Cons- tuition is less expensive than the US schools, but the professors are frequently on strike. The housing situation is going from bad to worse as property owners who used to rent to students turn their homes and flats into air bnb’s for golf tourists. There isn’t enough dorm space in town with no plans to build more. Students are being housed a few towns over in Dundee. There’s a shuttle bus, it’s an hour’s ride each way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you can't transfer core classes, but you can transfer credits that are likely still relevant to your major, unless you've really done a 180. kids do year abroad a lot of places including st Andrews all the time and get the credits to transfer

so you have to take some core credits sophomore year? big deal.

No, the fundamental difference is that in British universities you specialize for the 3/4 (st A is unique in that regard) years You don't do core at all. It is assumed that you already have a good core foundation coming into college so you apply to "read" a subject and read only that, so should you decide to transfer back to say a US state school, you have no core classes to file and have to start that over.

+1. and some colleges won't even accept you as a transfer student at all without core classes done with good grades.

this is not true. many universities in the US don't have core. we all realize about how UK courses work, but kids have and do transfer back here. kids have and do transfer back from St Andrews. they have credits that also transfer. some count for required classes, some as electives in their major. so, sure, kids have to pick up some required classes in sophomore year (like everyone else) and possibly one or two in junior year. But that Phil or German or Math or English credits just transfer over. transferring after second year would be harder, but that's true anywhere.

It’s risky. Our experience there so far was two years of covid lockdown, and another year of them pretending covid didn’t happen. Bootstraps and all that. Just make sure you pass the two tests they give you a semester and you’ll be fine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you can't transfer core classes, but you can transfer credits that are likely still relevant to your major, unless you've really done a 180. kids do year abroad a lot of places including st Andrews all the time and get the credits to transfer

so you have to take some core credits sophomore year? big deal.

No, the fundamental difference is that in British universities you specialize for the 3/4 (st A is unique in that regard) years You don't do core at all. It is assumed that you already have a good core foundation coming into college so you apply to "read" a subject and read only that, so should you decide to transfer back to say a US state school, you have no core classes to file and have to start that over.

+1. and some colleges won't even accept you as a transfer student at all without core classes done with good grades.

Anonymous wrote:you can't transfer core classes, but you can transfer credits that are likely still relevant to your major, unless you've really done a 180. kids do year abroad a lot of places including st Andrews all the time and get the credits to transfer

so you have to take some core credits sophomore year? big deal.

No, the fundamental difference is that in British universities you specialize for the 3/4 (st A is unique in that regard) years You don't do core at all. It is assumed that you already have a good core foundation coming into college so you apply to "read" a subject and read only that, so should you decide to transfer back to say a US state school, you have no core classes to file and have to start that over.

you can't transfer core classes, but you can transfer credits that are likely still relevant to your major, unless you've really done a 180. kids do year abroad a lot of places including st Andrews all the time and get the credits to transfer

so you have to take some core credits sophomore year? big deal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the relevance is that no college really supports kids with medical issues. My niece had a medical issue that was botched at a T5 school - but then again, what do we expect really? Schools are not hospitals. There are medical services outside the campus walls. Even my sister told my niece, do not bother with a health center for REAL ISSUES. That's for condoms and flu vaccines.

So while I'm sympathetic to issues at St Andrews, I dont think it's unique to that one school.

And yet, their new mission statement says they are. They also require students to use their student services center if they are hoping to get a medical excuse from a class. Parents are out of the loop a thousand miles away. GPAs head south quickly of you only have two grades for the entire semester. The American University system is more flexible and progressive.

Colleges like St. Andrews can say anything they want. Mission statements are worthless. You have to dig deep to find out the truth. The PP above who said you can't transfer back easily is spot on because there is no concept of a core currciulum at british schools like there is in America. we take it for granted that your kid is usually going to get a "liberal arts education or at least have a required foundational set of classes. That is not true in the British system. It's assumed that you already have that (and generally British students do have that by the time they reach this level) so you are studying only the subject you've proposed to read on from that point forward.

The only kid I know who attends St Andrews did not get into the US schools they were hoping for (top 50). I would not say it is equal to a lower tier Ivy like Cornell, more like a top 75.

ok

Anonymous wrote:I think the relevance is that no college really supports kids with medical issues. My niece had a medical issue that was botched at a T5 school - but then again, what do we expect really? Schools are not hospitals. There are medical services outside the campus walls. Even my sister told my niece, do not bother with a health center for REAL ISSUES. That's for condoms and flu vaccines.

So while I'm sympathetic to issues at St Andrews, I dont think it's unique to that one school.

And yet, their new mission statement says they are. They also require students to use their student services center if they are hoping to get a medical excuse from a class. Parents are out of the loop a thousand miles away. GPAs head south quickly of you only have two grades for the entire semester. The American University system is more flexible and progressive.

If a student needs to retake a course they failed due to a medical issue, colleges in the States, in general, will be more much more accommodating. We are ahead of the curve with these issues compared to St Andrews. Probably because American Universities are worried about being sued.

I think the relevance is that no college really supports kids with medical issues. My niece had a medical issue that was botched at a T5 school - but then again, what do we expect really? Schools are not hospitals. There are medical services outside the campus walls. Even my sister told my niece, do not bother with a health center for REAL ISSUES. That's for condoms and flu vaccines.

So while I'm sympathetic to issues at St Andrews, I dont think it's unique to that one school.

One thing to keep in mind is if your DD doesn’t like it there and decides to transfer back to the states, DD won’t have any core curriculum courses under her belt. Mine had to start at square 1 to make up the freshman core courses as a junior

That was a health issue at St Andrews, but someone was comparing all this to Yale

Someone was drawing parallels